Kyivstar Expands Its Service Capability With Cisco Technology

KIEV, UKRAINE--(Marketwire - October 22, 2008) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that
leading Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar has completed an upgrade
of its optical network based on Cisco's dense wavelength-division
multiplexing solution. DWDM is a method of transmitting multiple
signals over one fiber-optic line, thus increasing a network's bandwidth.
The implementation enhances Kyivstar's service capability with a technology
that offers the highest levels of quality, flexibility and scalability and
helps enable it to provide reliable communications services to its
subscribers throughout Ukraine.

Kyivstar's backbone includes more than 17,000 kilometers of optical cable
connecting all Ukrainian regional centers as well as big cities and
resorts. It is a unified network with more than 11,000 base stations. Every
city has at least two independent traffic routes that help ensure the
reliability and availability of the network. Having its own extensive
network, the company is able to provide fast and high-quality service for
large volumes of mobile traffic.

"At Kyivstar, we aim to provide a reliable, high-quality communications
experience at a reasonable price to meet the needs of our 24 million
subscribers across the country. Therefore, developing our network and
improving its performance are of great importance to us," said Jozsef
Huszlicska, Kyivstar's chief technology officer. "To ensure the highest
quality of services, we are building a reliable platform: a backbone based
on cutting-edge networking technologies like DWDM."

Over the past few years, Kyivstar has experienced a significant growth in
its subscriber base, longer call durations, the emergence of new services
and a significant increase in the demand for mobile Internet. To address
its customers' need for greater bandwidth, the company decided to implement
a nationwide optical DWDM backbone that enables simultaneous voice and data
transfers through different channels and at different speeds. The Cisco®
ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform was used for upgrading
existing networks to considerably increase their traffic capacity and to
minimize outages.

As a result of the DWDM implementation, Kyivstar has already increased its
network capacity eight fold since 2006 and is ready to accommodate
additional capacity increases. Kyivstar's 320 Gbps backbone is now one of
the largest countrywide networks in Ukraine. Thanks to the DWDM technology,
it is possible to increase the capacity of the backbone without
interrupting existing services, which is crucial for the country's largest
mobile operator.

As one of the critical ingredients in the service provider optical
transport network foundation, the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport
Platform with reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexing technology
offers Kyivstar the optimum combination of flexibility, capacity and
future-proofing.

The project was implemented by Cisco's Gold Certified Partner S&T Ukraine,
who together with Kyivstar solved complex technological tasks such as the
seamless integration of the new network into the existing transport
infrastructure.

About Kyivstar

The national mobile communications operator Kyivstar provides services for
more than 23,4 million subscribers (as of 01.09.2008), covering territories
where more than 99,9% of Ukrainian population lives. Kyivstar's network
covers all cities and towns and more than 28 thousand rural settlements,
all main national and regional roads, as well as most of the sea and river
shores of the Ukraine. Kyivstar provides EDGE/GPRS services all over its
coverage territory in Ukraine and provides roaming services
in 193 countries and territories on 5 continents. Kyivstar provides
Ukrainian citizens with modern telecommunication technologies at affordable
prices.

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